11/15/2002 @ 12:01AM

Midtown's Hip Hotel

Some people think of the Dylan Hotel as the “Britney” one–the midtown Manhattan boutique hotel is where pop princess Britney Spears opened her restaurant last June to much hoopla (and no, waitresses are not wearing navel-bearing shirts).

The Dylan Hotel opened two years ago in the former Chemists’ Club building, a 1903 brick and limestone building on a quiet block of East 41st Street. Owner Morris Moinian wanted to create a midtown hotel with a downtown feel, and he succeeded. The lobby is the kind of place where you would expect to see models lounging around, sipping cosmopolitans, but it is also welcoming to business travelers. In other words, unlike at some trendy hotels, the bellboys actually assist arriving guests instead of just posing and pouting in their slim-cut black suits.

Interior designer Jeffrey Beers used lush fabrics, like brushed velvet and chenille, on the lobby furniture, which has a square couch as its centerpiece. The ceiling is covered in an iridescent material, which leaves the room with a glowy look.

The hallways of the Dylan, which are wide and reminiscent of a Soho loft, are carpeted in cobalt blue. There are only 107 rooms, and all have 11-foot ceilings, so they feel spacious. In keeping with the building’s heritage, the bathrooms have laboratory beakers instead of standard glasses. A filmy, blue organza fabric covers the windows to add a burst of color to the otherwise muted tones of the room.

The Alchemy Suite is one of the best rooms in the Dylan. The room is a re-creation of a medieval alchemist’s laboratory, complete with vaulted ceilings, Gothic arches and a stained glass window depicting the stages of alchemy. The marble bathroom is gigantic, a good 15 by 6 feet. The room does have some negative aspects, though. The windows in the bathroom are incredibly drafty; it’s so cold in there, you’ll want to sprint from the shower and dive back under the covers. The fake orchids in the bathroom are also a sore spot (use real flowers, or none at all), and most of the rooms do not have a lot of natural light.

Now about the Britney restaurant. Spears named her boîte Nyla, a contraction of both New York and her home state of Louisiana. As one would expect from a Southern gal, the menu features a lot of Southern dishes, such as gumbo, crab cakes and braised short ribs. The menu is mostly stick-to-your-ribs comfort food, which is good with a home-cooked flair without being extraordinary. The portions are huge; Nyla is not the place for tiny, precious little dishes.

The space itself is impressive and has a touch of the bordello theme, with beaded lampshades and liberal use of fiery shades of orange and red and heavy swirls of draped fabric. On a recent visit, the restaurant stopped serving dinner at 10 P.M., which made visitors feel they were on Louisiana time, rather than New York’s. The Dylan does have room service, but it is not 24 hours.

The Dylan makes a good choice for business travelers looking for a hip yet sophisticated midtown hotel. Also, the location is hard to beat. The Dylan is spitting distance from Grand Central Station and steps from major corporations such as Pfizer and Philip Morris. And you may even have a Britney sighting.

Rates range from $199 to $795 per night for the Alchemy Suite.

For more information, call (212) 338-0500.

Forbes Fact

Most people associate alchemy with the ancient art and science of converting base metals into gold, but some alchemists were motivated by more than riches. Their goal was to discover a single cure for all diseases, prolong life indefinitely and manufacture artificial life. Alchemy is also symbolic of human spiritual transformation and has its roots in Egyptian artisans, Eastern mysticism and the Aristotelian theory of the composition of matter.